Bhagavad Gita, Chapter 15, Verse 12

यदादित्यगतं तेजो जगद्भासयतेऽखिलम् । यच्चन्द्रमसि यच्चाग्नौ तत्तेजो विद्धि मामकम्

yadādityagataṃ tejo jagadbhāsayate'khilam | yaccandramasi yaccāgnau tattejo viddhi māmakam

Translation

That light which residing in the sun illumines the whole world, that which is in the moon and in the fire, that light do thou know to be Mine.

— Alladi Mahadeva Sastri

Word meanings

yat

which

ādityagatam

in the sun, gone (forth)

tejaḥ

the splendour

jagat

the world

bhāsayate

lightens

akhilam

whole

yat

which

candramasi

in the moon

yat

which

ca

and

agnau

in fire

tat

that

tejaḥ

splendour

viddhi

know

māmakam

mine

Śaṅkarācārya's commentary

"Light": splendour. "Mine": Viṣṇu's. Or, 'light' may be understood to mean the light of consciousness (chaitanya). The light of consciousness exists in all alike; the qualification "residing in the sun" etc. is because of the better manifestation of consciousness in the sun due to a higher proportion of Sattva. In the sun and other bodies the Sattva is very brilliant and luminous; wherefore it is in them that the light of consciousness is better manifested. A man's face is not reflected in a wall, in a piece of wood or the like; but the same face is reflected in a mirror in a greater or less degree of clearness, according as the mirror is more or less transparent.